Beware of fake invites to Apple's iPhone 5 event next week

Whether you're a blogger or a tech addict, you're probably impatiently waiting to see what Apple reveals at the iPhone 5 event this coming week. Scammers and fraudsters love to take advantage of the excitement that surrounds events such as these. If the "invite" that appeared in my inbox this morning is any indication, that's exactly what they'll be doing.

Apple sends out invites to their events via e-mail but it's important to pay attention to where they're coming from as well as what links you're clicking in them. If you got an invite to an Apple event or any other kind of suspicious e-mail, be wary. As the screenshot above shows, the e-mail I received came not to my iMore e-mail, but to a general public inbox for my business. That's the first indication. The second was that it was coming from a domain other than just apple.com. Hovering over the link also showed the link to route to a strange tracking website.

In short, if you've received something like this recently and you think it's too good to be true, it probably is. Use common sense and don't click any links from anything that looks sketchy. Always verify the domain an e-mail is coming from and its authenticity. The time of year for Apple related scams is upon us, so be on your guard when it comes to opening e-mails that appear to come from Apple. Odds are, they aren't.